January 21-22, 2018
In an effort to get to know the students on my sea, I’ve been holding Cabin Meetings for the last several days. It’s be delightful to get to sit down with students 2 at a time and hear more about their families, schooling, and how they learned about Semester at Sea. At the same time, it’s been pretty intense to fit all the meetings in with other standing meetings. Not much time to just hang out and enjoy the journey.
I am particularly enjoying meeting students who are on a “gap year” after completing their World College experiences, which is apparently related to the International Baccalaureate Program. Many of these students had a full ride to go to another country to study at the World College for their high school education. They were taking classes where close to 40% of the class is international – such deep learning about other cultures from people who are part of those cultures. Understandably some of these students are having a little trouble adjusting to the US American culture of the ship – and I hear some reverse stereotyping about blond American women. Regardless, these students are so bright and insightful. It is interesting to have them on the ship.
One of the counselors has asked me to co-facilitate a session on Mastering Your Emotions: Mindfulness & Other Practical Skills. She has some theoretical training in DBT (Marsha Linehan) that she uses as part of her counseling framework. I write this and quickly add that I have no background in this. Missing the convenience of google to do a little background gathering to get up to speed. But even without that it is interesting to be a part of her program. She has me do the icebreakers and a short mindfulness exercise then she offers some content. It’s a nice personal growth opportunity for me.
Also in support of my “collateral assignment” of Wellness and Spirituality, I pulled together a student panel for this evening. We had someone each from Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Christianity and Catholicism. A faculty member who teaches world religions agreed to represent Buddhism and another staff person was the spokesperson for Agnostic, Atheism, and Secular Humanists. The panel overlapped with the film “Get Out” which is apparently quite a popular movie so I think we lost some of our audience to that. Nonetheless we had about 25 people in attendance. A bunch of people stayed 1-1.5 hours after the session just discussing and sharing different perspectives.
A popular SAS program is the “extended family” where faculty/staff/life-long learners adopt 8-10 students to form a family. We meet for dinner periodically, celebrate birthdays, have game nights, or whatever we want. Tonightwas our first dinner to meet my “kids.” I would certainly not have put this group together as a natural cluster, but they seemed quite happy to get to know one another and we sat over dinner for over an hour. Initially I was going to pass on this “opportunity” but they had so many students sign up for it, they were desperate for “parents.” So we’ll see how it goes. I guess it will be a different quality relationship than with some of the students on my floor.
January 23, 2018
Tomorrow Kobe! Everyone is excited to be at the end of the long voyage across the Pacific. It looks like we will be arriving on schedule despite having to navigate around some major storms near Japan. The ship captain has navigated south to avoid bad weather, so despite warnings of a rough trip last night, all has been relatively smooth until this afternoon. Around 5:30 we all began looking like we were drunk as we found our balance walking through hallways. The weather has gotten significantly colder as we have gotten closer to Japan – overcast and lots of waves. Several people have reported seeing some ships out the windows. This is change since we have a clear horizon for many days now.
We are due to arrive in Kobe at 8:00am tomorrow. It will take several hours to get through immigration and then we will be able to explore Kobe. The weather is cold – snow has fallen even in Tokyo – so we will get to experience winter again. I hear the temperature is about 34 degrees. We’ll spend the morning helping get students go through immigration, but hopefully can get out to explore Kobe for the afternoon. The next day is my field trip to Kyoto for the Monkeys & Zen Temples!
Monkeys & Zen Temples:
Program Description
Head to Kyoto’s Arashiyama district, a pleasant area in the western outskirts of Kyoto. The area has been a popular destination since the Heian Period (794-1185), when nobles would enjoy its natural setting.
Tenryuji is the largest and most impressive temple in Arashiyama and is ranked among Kyoto’s five great Zen temples. Founded in 1339 at the beginning of the Muromachi Period (1338-1573), the temple is one of Kyoto’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In addition to its temple buildings, there are attractive gardens with walking paths that beautifully frame these magnificent structures. Next, take a walk through Arashiyama’s famous bamboo groves, which are particularly attractive when there is a light wind and the tall bamboo stalks sway gently back and forth. Local workshops here have used bamboo to create various products, such as baskets, cups, boxes, and mats for centuries. Okochi Mountain Villa is the former villa of the popular samurai film star Okochi Denjiro (1896-1962), and consists of several beautiful gardens and buildings, including living quarters, tea houses, and a Zen meditation hall.
Head back to Tenryuji and enjoy lunch in a traditional building inside the temple grounds overlooking the beautifully landscaped garden. Savor a delicious vegetarian shojin-ryori (traditional Buddhist cuisine) that features yuba (silky bean curd skin), tofu, and seasonal vegetables.
After lunch, the group will head to its last stop of the day – Arashiyama Monkey Park. This large park is home specifically for the species of macaque that is native to Japan, often called the “snow monkey”. The park is dedicated to preserving the welfare of these monkeys and as such participants will find over a hundred monkeys roaming freely. There are no fences or cages here and the monkeys are in their own habitat. Journey to the top of the hill overlooking the city, an area offering stunning views of Kyoto available nowhere else.
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